When Kitty Bites!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 at
2:32 am

Cats love to play with each other by biting and kicking each other. While this doesn’t bother them, when it’s aimed toward us, it is painful. I read somewhere that we should take this as a compliment, because they are treating us as one of them, accepting us completely. While this is a nice thought, it hurts!

The one thing you hear the most is, “I’m petting my cat and suddenly he bites me!” I always ask the if the cats tail was twitching back and forth. They either have no idea or say yes. That is your cats way of saying “enough!” He may still want to stay curled up in your lap but he doesn’t want to be petted anymore. So pay attention to the tail…when its flicking back and forth, stop petting or whatever it is you’re doing. When you ignore his subtle sign, he will tell you more clearly!

I have had many arguments with others about what I’m about to say, but I have seen that all of my cats that came to me already declawed were huge biters. It makes perfect sense, to me at least, that when you remove one of their main defenses, they will turn to others…biting. I am not in favor of declawing at all, but if you do have a declawed cat, you can expect more biting.

Photo by kniemla a Flickr

One thing not to do is let them bite when they are kittens. It is so tempting to let them play bite…it’s so cute and they are so happy, but it will let them think it’s ok as they get older and those teeth get bigger. Gentle scolding is the best way to discourage this. You may have to do this many, many times over, but eventually they should get the idea. Another thing to do is when they bite your hand, replace it with a toy and let them bite on that.

One of my cats, Chloe, has recently started jumping across the bed and biting my arm. Where on earth she picked this up (she’s 14 and just started this about 6 months ago) I have no idea! What I finally found that worked with Chloe is to blow into her face when she bites. I also tell her no in a firm voice. Sometimes she will attempt another bite and I blow again…she usually gets huffy and strolls off to pout. It sees to be working as she is doing it less and less.

Anyone have any other methods they use? I’d love for you to share them…leave a comment below!